Valentine's Day
by Ollen70
Summary: Mai's thoughts and ordeals as she deals with Joey and company throughout the battle city arc. The second chapter is now posted.
1. Ready for you

Ollen70: Well, I'm new to the whole Yu-Gi-Oh scene, so be gentle if this turns out to be pretty bad. I pretty much just decided to write this when it donned on me how much my ex-girlfriend reminded me of Mai. Since we don't really get to see her in action all that much, I modified the storyline a little bit around the time when Yugi's fighting Slipher and Joey tries to pick a fight with Kaiba. Hope you like it.  
  
Just a quick note: I don't know ANYTHING about the card game - only what I've picked up from the series, so if there are any glaring inconsistencies, I apologize in advance. I'll say to Matt Morwell for helping me out a little on that. =)  
  
  
Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh and the characters therein don't belong to me. No money id being made off of this story.   
  
  
Chapter One - - Ready for you  
  
  
  
Mai walked down the streets of Domino city amiably, checking out the shop fronts as she passed. It was a nice day, and she was enjoying being outside in the cool air. Everybody was lucky. With the weather being this nice, the battle city tournament wasn't being held up at all. Kaiba's duel disk technology was advanced, but she didn't think it would work all that well in the rain.  
  
She looked down at the white metal object attached to her own arm. Unlike many of the amateurs flocking through the streets, she'd put hers to good use. So far, she had four locator cards already, having won both of her earlier duels without a hitch. Wondering idly what to do next, she continued to wander along the sidewalk without any real destination in mind. The duels had yielded her good cards, which would certainly make things easier later on, if and when she made the finals. After all, she'd done it before in more than one competition. It was expected of her, given her reputation as one of the best duelists in the world.   
  
Of course, that was before she'd run into Yugi, with his infuriating habit of beating EVERYBODY. It was probably better for him to beat her, though. He was fighting for something bigger than she, and it wasn't like she didn't have more than enough money to spare. Her convertible and trendy outfit were a testament to that. Dueling for her was about proving herself, which she'd done when she'd had Yugi on the ropes at the Duelist Kingdom tournament. This time, though, he wasn't going to catch her blind-sided.  
  
Angry shouting drew her attention away from her thoughts for a moment, coming from just around the corner. At first she was just going to ignore it, except that one of the voices in particular sounded way too familiar...  
  
Come on, Joe! I know you want a challenge, but let's think about this for a minute, here...  
  
Mai wondered aloud, picking up her pace unconsciously. Rounding the corner, she saw the tall brunette in question with his arms under Joey Wheeler's elbows. That was a good thing, because his hold was the only think keeping the shorter boy from leaping at... Kaiba? Well, that explained most of it right there. As off the wall as Joey tended to be, Kaiba usually deserved to have some better manners beaten into him. If it weren't bad precedent for someone of her station to be seen picking fights, Mai was pretty sure she'd have given him a left hook herself once or twice.  
  
  
Well, well. What have we here? She asked when no one acknowledged her. Tea and Mr. Mutou, Yugi's venerable Grandpa, stood nearby as well, out of the way of Joey and the object of his wrath. Kaiba's younger brother stood behind them looking abashed at the whole situation. For that Mai couldn't really blame him. The poor kid was one of the few who could handle Kaiba's attitude, or maybe it was that Kaiba was just flat out mean to everybody but his brother. Not that it really mattered though.  
  
What're you doin' here, Mai? Joey asked, still in mid-pounce. Trying not to smile, she gave him her usual off-hand gaze.   
  
I guess I could ask you both the same thing. When Kaiba only snorted softly, she turned his direction. Isn't there a parade you should be raining on or something?  
  
This is a private matter between the mutt and myself, and not something I think I'll discuss with you. So I think you'd better speak your piece, and then get lost. Seto's eyes locked onto her directly.  
  
Actually, I think I'll stick around for awhile. I wasn't planning on mediating today, but it's not like I have anything better to do. Don't you make Joey's life miserable enough as it is? I think it's time you go get a life of your own. I mean, granted, he's about as close to a friend as you have, but still...  
  
Kaiba's eyes narrowed dangerously, but he deigned to respond. I must be on a roll today.' She thought privately. Kaiba's usually got a comeback for everything.'  
  
Whatsamatta, Kaiba? Joey thickened his accent out of perversity while leering at the former world champion. Gettin' told off by a girl?  
  
I'm more embarrassed for you, loser. Do fashion models always have to come to your rescue? Seems like you really aren't worth anything on your own. Joey growled, but for once didn't take the bait. He's learning,' Mai thought to herself. I expected him to make a fool of himself, like he usually does. The day is young, though.' She came a little closer, unconsciously fingering her duel disk.  
  
You always say Joey and his friends are below you. How about you pick on someone who's more in your own league? I've won my fair share of duels.  
  
Kaiba drew himself up. I have cards in my deck that could make you cry just to look at them. You aren't stupid enough to be doing what I think you're doing. Coming to the dog's defense all the time makes you look bad. Besides, your little bird friends wouldn't stand a chance against my Great Beasts.   
  
Are you still on your ultimate-blue eyes kick? How many times has Yugi trashed that thing now? You'd think your pride's taken enough of a beating for one lifetime. Mai tossed her hair triumphantly at the flush that stained Kaiba's face.   
  
At least I'm not the one reduced to socializing with a filthy mutt.  
  
Oh, get a clue, Kaiba. Mai scoffed, glaring at him contemptuously. People LIKE dogs. Giant multi-headed dragons, on the other hand, just bring up thoughts about the apocalypse.  
  
Kaiba didn't answer. He only shot one of his customary glares in her direction, but Mai didn't pay much attention. Kaiba might be able to intimidate other people, but she knew how to get under his skin, and it was always satisfying to knock him down a peg or two.  
  
It really isn't any of your business, but I was just about to teach your friend Joey here a thing or two about respect. Unless you want a lesson yourself, I suggest you stay out of it. He said, his voice as oiled as always.  
  
Just like Kaiba, to break out petty threats.' Cracking her knuckles through her lavender wrist gloves, Mai looked down at her deck and sighed.   
  
What happens when you beat him?  
  
I get two of his locator cards and he forfeits the other two, removing him permanently from the tournament. Kaiba looked on both of them as if it were really below his dignity to be having this discussion at all.   
  
When?! Hey, wait a minute! Joey burst out from behind her.  
  
Can it, Joey. You're good, but I watched you duel Weevil from the top of the   
Rollins building. You aren't quite ready for Kaiba just yet.  
  
Oh, and you think you are, Mai? Mai knew that he wasn't trying to be rude. That's just how Joey was when he was passionate about anything. If I remember right, I placed above you in duelist kingdom a few weeks ago, plus I BEAT you in our duel.  
  
Then consider this what you owe me for giving you my Glory of the King's Hand' card. Besides, I've been looking for a challenge all day, just like you. If I lose, you'll still get your chance. Joey didn't need to know her real motivation for doing this, just like he didn't need to know her true thoughts when she'd watched him fade away into nothingness during that horrible virtual reality nightmare at Kaiba-corp, the reason she'd given him her Glory of the King's Hand card, or how damned proud of him she'd been when she learned he'd wiped the floor with that idiot bandit Keith.   
  
Here's the deal, big shot. Mai spoke with confidence, not letting herself waver for even a moment in the decision she'd already made. If I win, Joey stays in the tournament and you go about your business like this never happened. If you win, you get to duel Joey and nobody'll try to stop you. She turned and gazed meaningfully at Joey's cheering squad. All of them gave her sheepish looks.   
  
Why should I agree to that? It's not like you're a challenge to me. Kaiba cleaned his nails on his jacket as he spoke, not even giving her the courtesy of eye-contact. I'll make it a deal if you change the terms a little. Joey staying in the tournament is a lot to ask, since he wasn't selected, so you have to put up two locator cards if I beat you.   
  
Alright. Now let's go. With that, Mai activated her duel disk. She thought ruefully that this might turn out to be an interesting day after all.   
  
Though Tea, Joey, and Tristan all cheered her on, it really seemed that Kaiba just wasn't on his A' game today. She'd managed to take an early lead, drawing most of her favorite cards in her first turn. It wasn't long before her Harpy Ladies and one of her newer cards, St. Joan, were ready for action.   
  
Nothing he threw out was of consequence. As long as St. Joan was dominating the field, the Sword Stalker, the Titan of Dark Terror and the Dark Clown came and went before everyone's eyes. Kaiba finally caught her off-guard with a trap card, but Mai only shrugged. Apparently, he hadn't been able to draw the heavy-hitters he was known for. Not one Blue Eyes or the even more horrifying Obelisk had shown up thus far, and while her Harpy Ladies were still going strong, she had definite hope of coming out ahead in this free-for-all.  
  
You may have something of an advantage at the moment Valentine, but coming from behind to obliterate my opponents is what I do best. I'm sure Yugi's little friends remember that Ultimate Dragon trick I used at Duelist Kingdom...  
  
Didn't get you very far though, did it, Kaiba? Tea shot back, matching Seto's glare with superior vehemence. Tea often came to Yugi's defense, but it wasn't really necessary. Everyone thought Yugi was just a little push-over, but Mai had seen him fight often enough to know better. The pint-sized duelist was a force to be reckoned with on his own, and she didn't even like to think about how strangely overpowering he was when he started clasping that weird, upside-down pyramid in his hands. Every time he did, it was like he grew up in a matter of seconds. If you hadn't played dirty, he would have slaughtered you and you know it!  
  
Fingering her cards lightly, Mai took a minute to strategize. So far, things had really been going her way. She had two weak monsters and her Harpies, but hadn't managed to draw the Harpy's pet dragon yet. But then, that was only a very minor set-back.   
  
Hmm. I'm really not worried. You seem to forget that while I still rely on some old favorites, I've gotten myself quite an impressive collection of new cards since the beginning of your tournament. She smiled sweetly, enjoying Kaiba's look of dismay. I'll sacrifice two monsters to summon the Dark Magician!  
  
Since when does Mai have a Dark Magician card? Tristan asked incredulously. Aren't they really hard to come by? I though that Yugi was one of the only people to have one.  
  
Yugi thought he owed me a favor after that whole virtual reality thing, since I was actually on Pegasus' payroll and I helped out anyway. Mai replied coolly. When he won two extra Dark Magicians in that duel with Arcana, he very kindly decided that I should have one. He gave it to me when we ran into each other yesterday. And I've been hitting the books lately. Seeing as how this card gets Yugi out of all kinds of trouble, I figured it couldn't hurt to really know how to use it. Turning to Kaiba, she smiled again. Dark Magician, destroy his mystical horseman! With that, Mai now had the new magician and her Harpy Ladies on the field. In one more turn, she'd have Kaiba over the barrel.  
  
I switch all my monsters into defense mode. Kaiba deftly flipped his three weak monster cards, surprising Mai with a very sinister smirk. It could only mean one thing, and she wasn't going to let him pull it off. This duel was over.  
  
I know you have Obelisk in your hand, Kaiba, but you won't get the chance to use it. Mai had Raigeki, and she absolutely dying to get to play it. There was no way Kaiba was gonna get his god card out on the field while she had anything to say about it.   
This time it was Mokuba who piped up, pulling at Kaiba's sleeve. You know I don't wanna interrupt, but we just got a reading from the satellites, and if you wanna catch that guy, we hafta go now!  
  
Seto started, but paused after looking into the boy's eyes for a moment. He looked down at his hand, disappointment evident. He looked back at Mai for a minute, letting his usual sneer form for her. You would have been in for a surprise, but I guess we'll just have to call it a draw until I see you again at the finals. If you make it that far.  
  
I'll be there. She replied, winking at him deliberately. She noted out of the corner of her eye how Joey turned a very interesting shade of red at that. Watching Kaiba turn tail and head off down the street filled her with a certain amount of undeserved pride. After all, it was very likely he would have come from no-where and creamed her in the next turn. Things certainly weren't over yet, but it seemed she wasn't going to be bored anymore for quite a while.   
  
Well, let's go. I still have a duel to win today. Joey said at last, taking the lead. Mai followed with them for awhile, not really knowing why. To be honest, she wasn't totally sure why she'd gotten involved at all. True, Kaiba's pride was always fun to stomp on, but the other answer lay beneath the surface, and she was content to leave them there for the time being. They'd rear their heads sooner or later.  
  
  
Ollen70: Since I don't know where this is going, I can't say for sure how many chapters I'll post. It'll probably be quite a few, though. As always, I really appreciate comments and suggestions. Thanks for reading so far.   
  
  
  
  
Dark Witch  
Harpy Lady  
Bird face 1600/1600  
  
3000/2500 Blue Eyes  
2800/2000 St. Joan  
1500/1000 Saggi the Dark Clown  
1300/1100 Dark Titan of Terror  
1300/1550 Mystical Horseman  
2000/1600 Sword stalker  
1200/1300 Terra the Terrible


	2. Preparations

  
Chapter Two - - Preparations  
  
  
The blimp of Kaiba's was an odd thing, to be certain. While having flown in her fair share of jets and planes (first class, of course,) a blimp was definitely a first. And naturally, Kaiba wouldn't have anything but the very best, in any respect. The rooms were all fairly simple, but the furnishings were of excellent quality. What surprised Mai most of all was how quiet - almost to the point of being eerie - her room was, prompting her to sink into one of the overstuffed armchairs nearby and reflect for a few minutes.  
  
This incredibly odd dueling arena was one of many surprises thrown her way that evening. Primarily, an old flame had shown up only hours before and demanded the right to duel her for her hand in marriage. The pompous jerk wasn't much of a match for her, and it was almost as satisfying for her to trample him as it had been to get the upper hand in her duel with Kaiba.   
  
What was surprising, though, was how Joey had reacted to the whole thing. It was odd how she'd never really noticed that before. Sure, she'd been very conscious of her inclinations toward him, as chaste and almost sisterly as they had started out, but she'd never really considered that he might reciprocate. After all, he'd actually had to ASK if they were friends after she'd given him her Glory of the King's Hand card back in duelist kingdom. When he'd done that, she took it as a not-so-subtle hint that he would only ever see her as a companion. For a while afterward, she'd been intentionally distant. They didn't see each-other much anyway so it wasn't like that had been particularly hard, but she did it anyway. She sought out other guys to occupy her time (which might have explained how she ended up with psychos like the one who just tried to duel her for a chance to be her husband - if that wasn't weird, she didn't know what was - ) until she realized that she wasn't really punishing him if he didn't even know about her motives.  
  
It was possible that he was honestly just oblivious to her. Joey wasn't the kind of guy that girls swarmed, making it very probable that he'd genuinely misread her intentions. It wasn't like he was a cold person or anything. After the way he'd sent his red-eyes to protect Mokuba from the dragon's blast at the cost of his own life-points during Kaiba's virtual reality free-for-all, she thought he deserved a little more faith than that. At the time, they'd all thought he'd really died.   
  
That really wasn't the oddest turn of events thus far, which was unsettling in its own right. Who would have thought that Bakura's arrival would have been a bigger deal than all of these social disasters they'd been facing lately? Even still, the fact that Bakura had somehow happened upon six locator cards was definitely something of a surprise. Mai didn't even know that he was a serious duelist. He'd been beaten fairly early in the Duelist Kingdom tournament, which led her to believe that he was a little too soft to take the game to the professional level.   
  
But then, sometimes these situations could be outright confusing. Joey's personality didn't scream first-class duelist' either, but he was doing alright. There were definite issues he was going to have to face, the foremost being his frustrating habit of constantly falling for the bait in every situation. It was kind of fascinating to watch him fight - sort of like driving by the scene of a terrible car accident - but more often than not, she found herself wondering how he managed to get himself into these situations. He'd be much better if he could just develop a little objectivity...  
  
Blinking twice, Mai got up out of the chair. Why were all of her thoughts suddenly spiraling around Joey? She was an independent woman with the strength to prove it, not some love-lorn little girl.   
  
She started rummaging through the small fridge on the corner of the room more out of a need to be distracted than because of any legitimate hunger. As she'd expected, Kaiba stocked it with only the best of everything, most of it bearing the conspicuous K' of Kaiba-Corps. She sniffed as she took out a fancy, gourmet sandwich and a bottle of soda, wrenching off the sharp metal cap on the edge of the fridge. She hadn't been aware that Kaiba was branching out into grub, but somehow she wasn't surprised. Within a few years, he'd probably start buying up islands just because he could.   
  
Taking a large bite of her acquisition, she panicked and immediately followed it with most of the soda. There was enough horse-radish on the bread to power a small city. Her second bite was a bit more conservative. Maybe Kaiba ought to stick with duel monsters products.   
  
Sinking back into the chair again, she let herself muse while she idly drank the rest of the soda. It was honestly hard for Mai to understand why anybody with all that money would have such a hard time smiling once and awhile. She had plenty of money herself, by the way, and she didn't run around hurling petty threats and scheming to regain her title as champion duelist. Then again, there was really no comparing herself to Kaiba in any respect. He and Pegasus actually had much more in common, which made her sad. She didn't think he really meant to be cruel and cold, but if he wanted attention, there were other ways of getting it.   
  
But to be totally fair, attention was basically at the root of duel monsters anyway. She didn't deny that the applause, recognition, and cheering fans definately weren't drawbacks. The only person who seemed to be in it solely for the game was Yugi, but... well, Yugi was different anyway. He was playing with a different deck in every meaning of the phrase. If she was particularly lucky, something would happen beforehand and she wouldn't have to fight him again. Yugi wasn't someone to be taken lightly.   
  
It would be interesting to see how everything played out. She was anxious to see who ended up going against who first off, especially since the arena and premise to the duels would be so different. If she was lucky, it would be someone else this time through. There were definate advantages to watching this sort of thing play out once or twice before jumping right in.   
  
All duelists report to the main lounge. I repeat, all duelists report to the main lounge. Selection for the first duel of the battle city finals will begin promptly.  
  
It was as if the probably underpaid man on the other end of the intercom had read her mind. Setting down the rest of the sandwich and her empty bottle, she made for the doorway. Things were interesting already. They could only go up from here.   
  
  
  
Ollen70: Not a very action-filled chapter, but I'm getting some direction back into this story. I just recently saw some of the battle city finals episodes, and I'm using this as an opportunity to fill out Mai's character a little. Don't worry - things should pick up soon. Comments and suggestions are always greatly appreciated. Thank you to Litena greywords for her e-mail, and to Matt Morwell for his review.   



End file.
